PUT-IN-BAY – The case against one of three Put-in-Bay Resort employees, who the resort owner believes island police wrongfully arrested last fall, has been dismissed.

Put-in-Bay police arrested three employees in September during an investigation regarding two Bulgarian employees who were fired from the resort and the workers’ concerns about receiving their last paychecks.

Lisa Cooper, 47, of Put-in-Bay, and Rikki Singstock, 23, of Southgate, Michigan, were charged with one misdemeanor count of obstructing official business. The Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case against Singstock.

Eric Haines, 28, of Stow, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of theft and unlawful restraint.

Cooper and Haines were scheduled to stand trial last week in Ottawa County Municipal Court, but the cases were continued. No new dates have been set.

During a public meeting Thursday at Put-in-Bay regarding concerns about the police department’s conduct, Put-in-Bay Resort owner Mark Mathys said officers targeted his businesses with these arrests and other incidents and refused to investigate theft cases the businesses reported.

“I think the department’s out of control, and you can’t chalk this up to be gone a few weeks because these incidents have been going on for years,” Mathys told Put-in-Bay Police Chief Ric Lampela.

Lampela had told the packed village hall that he had been out of town when a different incident arose that created concern among islanders over officers’ conduct. He said during the meeting he wanted to hear what the community felt was wrong with the department so he could make improvements and address issues.

Mathys, who was not available for further comment Friday, said he had tried to discuss the arrests with Lampela and Mayor Ruth Scarpelli and received no response. Lampela and Scarpelli said they would not discuss the cases because two are still pending.

The arrests resulted after Cooper found two men Sept. 22, invited over by one of the Bulgarian workers, at employee dorms, according to Put-in-Bay police reports. They parked in a no-parking area, reports show.

Cooper told them they were trespassing and to leave. One of the men alleged Haines put him in a headlock, which led to the unlawful restraint charge, according to the report.

The man also said when he went to move his car, it was parked in by golf carts, according to reports. The man told police Haines then told him: “Don’t touch those carts. They are going to stay there for now. Come back tomorrow or something,” reports show.

The resort then had the car towed, which led to the theft charge against Haines, according to the report.

When police began investigating who parked the carts there, Cooper and Singstock would not cooperate, officers allege in their reports. Officers arrested Cooper on Sept. 23.

They returned to the resort Sept. 24 to arrest Singstock and Haines, reports show. Officer Steven Korossy said he asked Singstock to step behind the lobby counter “so the arrest was made in a more private area,” according to police reports.

When Singstock told Korossy she didn’t want to talk to him and didn’t want to leave the counter, he went behind the counter and arrested her, according to the report.

The next day, police again returned to the resort, saying Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan told them to have the resort issue the Bulgarian women their final paychecks or staff would be charged with theft, according to the report.

Payroll was not yet due, so the resort and another hotel owned by Mathys where the women had worked — Bay Lodging Resort — had to make arrangements to have the checks issued early, according to written statements resort staff made to the prosecutor’s office and police reports.

“It seems as if the police officers have been arresting whoever they want for whatever reason they want, and it’s very stressful,” wrote Katelyn Gabriel of Bay Lodging Resort, who said she was ordered to get the paychecks, in a statement.

During the meeting Thursday, Mathys read a letter from his attorney, John Swansinger of Cleveland. In the letter, Swansinger said Mulligan told him he never gave police instructions to charge staff with theft over the paychecks.

Mulligan said he did not recall what he might have told Put-in-Bay police last fall.

“I get calls from the police all the time,” he said. “I give them advice. Often times they take it. Sometimes they don’t.”